Dear Lifehacker,I've been debating getting a Chromecast. I like that it's cheap, but is there any reason to get it over a box like a Roku or Apple TV?

Sincerely,Box or No Box

Dear Box,The Chromecast has been in the news a lot lately, and with good reason. Not only is it a solid little device on its own, but it's about to get better: on Monday, Google finally released the SDK that enables any developer to add casting support to their apps. Not one day later, AllCast was updated, allowing you to stream your own local media to your Chromecast. This is on top of several other new apps that have added support for the Chromecast since its initial launch. However, app support is only one of the key factors that matter when deciding between a Chromecast and another streaming set top box, so let's take a look at the key factors.

Android: We've previously looked at AllCast, the device that lets you stream your local media…
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Where the Chromecast Wins Out

The Chromecast functions is unique when compared to other streaming media solutions. Other set-top boxes, whether you're talking about the Roku, Apple TV, or even the embedded software in your Blu-Ray player, tends to use the same directional pad control schemes, blown-up interfaces, and space-consuming hardware. The Chromecast differs from this path in some pretty key ways:

It's the smallest device around: Unlike other set top boxes, the Chromecast takes up virtually no space. If you have an open HDMI port and a place to plug in the power, you'll never even see the little device.

Your phone is your remote: While remote controls have been one of the most beloved technological advances of the 20th century, they're also very rudimentary and easy to lose. We tend to be much better at keeping up with our phones. While Apple TV users can download a remote app for the iPhone, the Chromecast remotes tend to be cross platform.

More importantly, your app is your remote: With the Chromecast, your "remote control" is the native app of whatever you're watching rather than some direction pad and set of buttons. It's an app designed for mobile, and instead of clicking around a menu, you're picking your media from the app's normal menus. It's a much nicer experience. While not every company does this perfectly, the big names like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube have done a good job. Note also that some devices like the Roku have smartphone-based remote control apps, but few are terribly well designed.

(Some) apps are group activities: It's inevitable: when you have company over, one person wants to play a YouTube video, then everyone wants to join in. One of the neat things about how the YouTube app handles the Chromecast is that anyone can do so, and they can even add a video to a shared playlist to make things easy.

Tab casting is always a fallback: While the feature can be a bit wonky, the Chromecast is able to stream video from any Chrome tab on your PC to your TV. It's not an ideal solution, but if you want to play videos from a less popular streaming site (say, a television network's own video player), tab casting is always an option. On an Apple TV or Roku, if a service isn't supported you're just out of luck.

It's insanely cheap: It should go without saying that the biggest advantage the Chromecast has is its price. Not only is it normally $35, which is about the cheapest you can get for a device like this, but you can often find deals where you get a discount or even a free Chromecast with the purchase of something else.

Where the Chromecast Falls Short

It's not all sunshine and rainbows in Chromecast Land. Since Google elected to avoid the traditional model for set top boxes, there are some distinct disadvantages to using it:

Many apps are still missing: Want to watch Amazon Instant Video on your TV? Sorry. You're currently out of luck. Tab casting may be a decent solution if you want to pull out a laptop, but not all apps are so lucky. The advent of the Chromecast SDK means that we may see a flood of new options, but for now, there are still some areas where it's a waiting game.

You have no physical remote: Yes, this very thing was listed as a feature in the previous section, but it cuts both ways. If you have a member of the house that doesn't own a smartphone (for example, your children), it won't be easy for them to use the Chromecast.

It lacks a native interface: One of the silent advantages to using a standalone streaming box is that everyone can browse together. A big wall of Netflix movies is visible to everyone in the room and each person can offer their input as you look for something to watch. With a Chromecast, everyone has to crowd around the phone or tablet to see what's available, which isn't exactly ideal.

You might already have a set top box: Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of the Chromecast is that it came out in 2013, years after devices like the Apple TV and the Roku were already in living rooms. For those that haven't bought one already, many Blu-Ray players and TVs also have many of these same functions built in. $35 may be a pittance to pay for what the Chromecast can do, but if you already have the ability to do so, the money isn't very well spent.

As with the last time we looked at the Chromecast, whether or not you need it depends a lot on your particular set up. Do you have a TV, but no existing streaming boxes? Do you prefer browsing on your phone to using a handheld remote? Are the apps you use most already supported? Your answer to these questions determines how useful the Chromecast is to you.

Last week, Google unveiled the Chromecast: a $35 HDMI stick that can stream content directly to…
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The one thing that has changed is that now, between the apps that have already added support, and the ones that are likely coming, the Chromecast is finally worth more than what it costs. When we last tried it out, there was only native support for Netflix, YouTube, and Google Play Movies and Music. Now, the list includes many more big name apps like:

HBO Go

Hulu Plus

Pandora

Vevo

Plex

RealPlayer Cloud

And plenty more are on the way. The one big question everyone was concerned with when the Chromecast launched was whether or not the app support was coming. In the time since, even without an open SDK, the response has been relatively strong. While it's still early days, we can finally bump the Chromecast from an idle curiosity to a worthwhile recommendation, as long as your personal use cases work well with it.